The national capital’s fourth jail in Narela, which will house “high-risk” prisoners, will be ready in two years as the Delhi government has given administrative approval for it, officials said. The central government has allocated Rs 120 crore for the construction of the prison complex, which will have a design similar to that of the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, they said.
“The administrative approval from the minister concerned was taken and the file sent to the finance department. It had some queries, and those have been answered. Following this, the public works department will invite tenders for the construction of the complex,” an official said.
“Looking at the current pace, the construction of the jail will be completed in two years,” the official said, adding that the building plan for the complex has been finalised and will be in a semi-circle shape. Delhi has three prison complexes—Tihar, Rohini, and Mandoli — and all of these comprise central jails.
Tihar, which is considered one of the largest prison complexes in the world, comprising nine central prisons, has a capacity to house 5,200 inmates, but more than double the inmates are currently lodged in its different central jails. Similar is the case with the other two jails.
Some of the high-risk inmates lodged in these jails include conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar and Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik. On the Narela jail, officials said the prison’s security features will include CCTV cameras, round-the-clock surveillance, isolation rooms with facilities to ensure that inmates do not interact much, high walls, and mobile jammers with superior technology.
